How to Subtract / Add a Vector from / to Each Row of a Matrix in R (2 Examples)

In this article, you’ll learn how to subtract or add a constant vector from each row of a matrix in the R programming language.

The tutorial will consist of two examples for the subtraction or addition of the values in a vector from each row of a matrix. More precisely, the page looks as follows:

Here’s how to do it.

Creation of Example Data

We’ll use the following data as basement for this R programming tutorial:

my_mat <- matrix(1:15, ncol = 3)    # Create example matrix
my_mat                              # Print example matrix

Table 1 shows the structure of our example data: It consists of five rows and three columns.

Next, we also have to create a vector object that we can subtract and add from / to the cells of our data set:

my_vec <- 1:3                       # Create example vector
my_vec                              # Print example vector
# [1] 1 2 3

Our vector contains the values 1, 2, and 3.

Example 1: Subtract Vector from Each Row of Matrix Using sweep() Function

Example 1 explains how to subtract constant values from every row of a matrix in R.

For this task, we can use the sweep function as explained below:

my_mat_new1 <- sweep(my_mat,        # Apply sweep function
                     2,
                     my_vec)
my_mat_new1                         # Return updated matrix

Table 2 illustrates the output of the previous R programming syntax: We have created a new matrix object where our example vector has been subtracted from our example matrix.

Example 2: Add Vector to Each Row of Matrix Using sweep() Function

The following syntax demonstrates how to add values in a vector to each row of a matrix or data frame.

Again, we can use the sweep function. However, this time we have to specify the FUN argument to be equal to “+”.

my_mat_new2 <- sweep(my_mat,        # Apply sweep function
                     2,
                     my_vec,
                     FUN = "+")
my_mat_new2                         # Return updated matrix

In Table 3 it is shown that we have created another output matrix where the constant numbers in our vector have been added to the values in our input matrix.

Video, Further Resources & Summary

In case you need further info on the examples of this tutorial, you might want to have a look at the following video on my YouTube channel. In the video, I’m explaining the R programming syntax of the present article:

In addition to the video, you might want to have a look at some of the related tutorials on this website.

• Return Column Name of Largest Value for Each Row
• Remove Row & Column Names from Matrix
• Add & Subtract Months & Years to/from Date Object
• Add New Row to Data Frame in R
• Divide Each Row of Matrix & Data Frame by Vector Elements
• R Programming Language

In this article, I have shown how to subtract or add a vector from each row of a matrix object in the R programming language. Let me know in the comments section below, in case you have further questions.